Wave dynamics in a sunspot umbra

Abstract

Context. Sunspot oscillations are one of the most frequently studied wave phenomena in the solar atmosphere. Understanding the basic physical processes responsible for sunspot oscillations requires detailed information about their fine structure. Aims. We aim to reveal the relationship between the fine horizontal and vertical structure, time evolution, and the fine spectral structure of oscillations in a sunspot umbra. Methods. The high spatial and time resolution data obtained with SDO/AIA for the sunspot in active region NOAA 11131 on 08 December 2010 were analysed with the time-distance plot technique and the pixelised wavelet filtering method. Different levels of the sunspot atmosphere were studied from the temperature minimum to the corona. Results. Oscillations in the 3 min band dominate in the umbra. The integrated spectrum of umbral oscillations contains distinct narrowband peaks at 1.9 min, 2.3 min, and 2.8 min. The power significantly varies in time, forming distinct 12-20 min oscillation trains. The oscillation power distribution over the sunspot in the horizontal plane reveals that the enhancements of the oscillation amplitude, or wave fronts, have a distinct structure consisting of an evolving two-armed spiral and a stationary circular patch at the spiral origin, situated near the umbra centre. This structure is seen from the temperature minimum at 1700 Å to the 1.6 MK corona at 193 Å. In time, the spiral rotates anti-clockwise. The wave front spirality is most pronounced during the maximum amplitude phases of the oscillations, and in the bandpasses where umbral oscillations have the highest power, 304 Å and 171 Å. In the low-amplitude phases the spiral breaks into arc-shaped patches. The 2D cross-correlation function shows that the oscillations at higher atmospheric levels occur later than at lower layers. The phase speed is estimated to be about 100 km s −1 . The fine spectral analysis shows that the central patch corresponds to the high-frequency oscillations, while the spiral arms highlight the lower-frequency oscillations in the 3 min band. Conclusions. The vertical and horizontal radial structure of the oscillations is consistent with the model that interprets umbral oscillations as slow magnetoacoustic waves filtered by the atmospheric temperature non-uniformity in the presence of the magnetic field inclination from the vertical. The mechanism for the polar-angle structure of the oscillations, in particular the spirality of the wave fronts, needs to be revealed.

Local sunspot oscillations and umbral dots

“…travelling through umbra to penumbra (Zirin & Stein 1972;Giovanelli 1972;Sych & Nakariakov 2014;Su et al 2016). Figure 5 shows two scenarios for both local and nonlocal in sunspots.…”

Oscillations and Waves in Sunspots

“…A recent study of the relation of the umbral fine structure and waves from AIA/SDO images by Sych and Nakariakov (2014) revealed the enhancements of the oscillation amplitude that have a peculiar structure consisting of an evolving two-armed spiral and a stationary circular patch at the spiral origin, situated near the umbra center. This structure is observed at all layers observed by AIA, from the temperature minimum to the corona.…”

The Physical Nature of Spiral Wave Patterns in Sunspots

“…Interestingly, recent observational works reported that in the horizontal plane, 3 minute oscillations often appear in sunspot umbrae as one-and two-armed spiral wave patterns (SWPs; Sych & Nakariakov 2014;Su et al 2016;Felipe et al 2019). SWPs apparently propagate radially out at the velocity of around 20 km s −1 , and also propagate upward (Su et al 2016).…”